Captar Conjugation in Spanish

The Spanish verb captar means to capture, to grasp, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. Captar means to capture or to grasp, and it covers grasping an idea, catching a radio signal, capturing an audience's attention and understanding the sense of a sentence. It is a regular -ar verb, common in learning, media and communication. Like every Spanish verb, captar changes its ending for each person and tense, and this page gives you the complete picture: every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle, all from the verified conjugation tables. For example, in the present tense you say capto la idea a la primera, and in the preterite you say capté la atención del público. Work through the tables below, read the notes for each tense, and then test yourself with the examples, the common mistakes and the quiz at the end of the page.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: captar
  • English: to capture, to grasp
  • Verb type: regular -ar verb
  • Ending: -ar
  • Gerund: captando
  • Past participle: captado
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + captado)

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for captar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Captar is fully regular: capté, captaba, captaré. Captar la idea means to get the idea straight away.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for captar. The imperfect subjunctive is shown in its -ra forms; the -se forms use the same stem. For reflexive verbs, the pronoun column shows the reflexive pronoun that goes before each form.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo capto
tú captas
él/ella/Ud. capta
nosotros/as captamos
vosotros/as captáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. captan

Preterite

Person Form
yo capté
tú captaste
él/ella/Ud. captó
nosotros/as captamos
vosotros/as captasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. captaron

Imperfect

Person Form
yo captaba
tú captabas
él/ella/Ud. captaba
nosotros/as captábamos
vosotros/as captabais
ellos/ellas/Uds. captaban

Future

Person Form
yo captaré
tú captarás
él/ella/Ud. captará
nosotros/as captaremos
vosotros/as captaréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. captarán

Conditional

Person Form
yo captaría
tú captarías
él/ella/Ud. captaría
nosotros/as captaríamos
vosotros/as captaríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. captarían

Present perfect

Person Form
yo he captado
tú has captado
él/ella/Ud. ha captado
nosotros/as hemos captado
vosotros/as habéis captado
ellos/ellas/Uds. han captado

Pluperfect

Person Form
yo había captado
tú habías captado
él/ella/Ud. había captado
nosotros/as habíamos captado
vosotros/as habíais captado
ellos/ellas/Uds. habían captado

Future perfect

Person Form
yo habré captado
tú habrás captado
él/ella/Ud. habrá captado
nosotros/as habremos captado
vosotros/as habréis captado
ellos/ellas/Uds. habrán captado

Conditional perfect

Person Form
yo habría captado
tú habrías captado
él/ella/Ud. habría captado
nosotros/as habríamos captado
vosotros/as habríais captado
ellos/ellas/Uds. habrían captado

Present subjunctive

Person Form
yo capte
tú captes
él/ella/Ud. capte
nosotros/as captemos
vosotros/as captéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. capten

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)

Person Form
yo captara
tú captaras
él/ella/Ud. captara
nosotros/as captáramos
vosotros/as captarais
ellos/ellas/Uds. captaran

Imperative (affirmative)

Person Form
tú capta
él/ella/Ud. capte
nosotros/as captemos
vosotros/as captad
ellos/ellas/Uds. capten

Imperative (negative)

Person Form
tú captes
él/ella/Ud. capte
nosotros/as captemos
vosotros/as captéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. capten

Gerund and past participle

Form Spanish Use
Gerund captando with estar for the progressive: estoy captando
Past participle captado with haber for the perfect tenses: he captado

How to use each tense

Present indicative

Use the present for routines, general facts and what is happening right now. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For captar, the present looks like this in a real sentence: Capto la idea a la primera. Learn the present forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Preterite

Use the preterite for finished actions with a clear end, often with ayer, el año pasado or anoche. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For captar, the preterite looks like this in a real sentence: Ayer, capté la señal de la radio. Learn the preterite forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Imperfect

Use the imperfect for background, habits and actions in progress in the past, often with de niño, antes or mientras. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For captar, the imperfect looks like this in a real sentence: De niño, captaba la atención del público. Learn the imperfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Future

Use the future for plans, predictions and promises, often with mañana, el año que viene or pronto. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For captar, the future looks like this in a real sentence: Mañana, captaré el sentido de la frase. Learn the future forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Conditional

Use the conditional for polite requests, hypotheticals and what would happen, often with si clauses. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For captar, the conditional looks like this in a real sentence: Captaría la idea a la primera si pudiera. Learn the conditional forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Present perfect

Use the present perfect for recent actions and experiences, often with hoy, esta semana or ya. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For captar, the present perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Hoy, he captado la señal de la radio. Learn the present perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Pluperfect

Use the pluperfect when one past action happened before another past action. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For captar, the pluperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Había captado la atención del público antes de salir. Learn the pluperfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Future perfect

Use the future perfect for something that will already be finished by a future time. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For captar, the future perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Para mañana, habré captado el sentido de la frase. Learn the future perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Conditional perfect

Use the conditional perfect for what would have happened under different conditions. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For captar, the conditional perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Habría captado la idea a la primera con más tiempo. Learn the conditional perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Present subjunctive

Use the present subjunctive after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion and hope, such as espero que or quiero que. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For captar, the present subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Espero que él capte la señal de la radio. Learn the present subjunctive forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)

Use the imperfect subjunctive after past wishes and in si clauses about the past, and note the -ra forms shown here; the -se forms use the same stem. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For captar, the imperfect subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Si él captara la atención del público, todo cambiaría. Learn the imperfect subjunctive forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Imperative (affirmative)

Use the affirmative imperative for direct commands, instructions and invitations. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For captar, the affirmative imperative looks like this in a real sentence: ¡capta el sentido de la frase! Learn the affirmative imperative forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Imperative (negative)

Use the negative imperative, always with no, to tell someone not to do something. For this verb the tense is regular, so the forms follow the standard endings for its verb class. For captar, the negative imperative looks like this in a real sentence: No captes la idea a la primera. Learn the negative imperative forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.

Example sentences

Ten natural sentences with captar, covering different tenses and persons. Each one uses a form from the tables above.

  1. Capto la idea a la primera. — I grasp the idea first time.
  2. Capta la señal de la radio. — He/she grasps the radio signal.
  3. Ayer, capté la atención del público. — Yesterday, I grasped the audience's attention.
  4. Antes, nosotros captábamos el sentido de la frase. — Before, we used to grasp the sense of the sentence.
  5. Mañana, tú captarás la idea a la primera. — Tomorrow, you will grasp the idea first time.
  6. Yo captaría la señal de la radio si tuviera más tiempo. — I would grasp the radio signal if I had more time.
  7. Él ha captado la atención del público. — He has grasped the audience's attention.
  8. Espero que él capte el sentido de la frase. — I hope he grasps the sense of the sentence.
  9. Yo ya había captado la idea a la primera antes de salir. — I had already grasped the idea first time before leaving.
  10. Ellos captaban la señal de la radio cuando eran jóvenes. — They used to grasp the radio signal when they were young.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo capta la idea a la primera. — Right: Yo capto la idea a la primera. — The person matters: capta is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is capto. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Treating captar and comprender as identical in every context. — Right: Captar means to capture, to grasp, while comprender means to understand something. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: captar fits sentences such as Capto la idea a la primera, while comprender belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  3. Wrong: Yo soy captado la señal de la radio. — Right: Yo he captado la señal de la radio. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he captado, has captado, ha captado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  4. Wrong: De niño, yo capté la atención del público todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo captaba la atención del público todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (captaba), not the preterite. The preterite (capté) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on captar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ la idea a la primera. (present tense) A. capto B. captas C. capta D. captamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Ayer, él ___ la señal de la radio. (preterite) A. capté B. captaste C. captaron D. captó

  3. Complete the sentence: Antes, nosotros ___ la atención del público. (imperfect) A. captabas B. captaban C. captábamos D. captaba

  4. Complete the sentence: Mañana, tú ___ el sentido de la frase. (future) A. captaremos B. captarás C. captaré D. captará

  5. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ la idea a la primera si pudiera. (conditional) A. captaría B. captarías C. captarían D. capto

  6. Complete the sentence: Espero que él ___ la señal de la radio. (present subjunctive) A. captes B. captemos C. capto D. capte

  7. Complete the sentence: Si yo ___ la atención del público, todo cambiaría. (imperfect subjunctive, -ra form) A. captáramos B. capto C. captara D. captaras

  8. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el sentido de la frase. (present perfect) A. han captado B. hemos captado C. he captado D. has captado

  9. Complete the command: ¡___ la idea a la primera! (affirmative imperative, tú) A. capta B. capte C. captemos D. captad

  10. Which is the gerund of captar, used with estar for the progressive? A. captado B. capto C. capté D. captando

Answer key

  1. capto — The first-person present of captar is capto. The other options are the tú, él/ella and nosotros forms.
  2. captó — The third-person preterite of captar is captó, the form for a single finished action in the past.
  3. captábamos — The nosotros imperfect of captar is captábamos, used here for a repeated past habit.
  4. captarás — The second-person future of captar is captarás.
  5. captaría — The first-person conditional of captar is captaría, the form for what would happen.
  6. capte — After espero que, the subjunctive is required: the third-person present subjunctive of captar is capte.
  7. captara — The first-person imperfect subjunctive (-ra) of captar is captara.
  8. hemos captado — The nosotros present perfect of captar is hemos captado: hemos + captado.
  9. capta — The affirmative tú imperative of captar is capta.
  10. captando — The gerund of captar is captando: estoy captando. The participle captado is used with haber instead.

Frequently asked questions

What does captar mean in English?

Captar means to capture, to grasp. It is used in everyday situations such as Capto la idea a la primera. The exact English wording depends on the context, but the core meaning stays the same across the tenses.

Is captar regular or irregular?

Captar is a fully regular -ar verb, so every tense follows the standard endings for its class. Once you know the regular pattern, you can produce every form on this page, including capto in the present and capté in the preterite.

What is the difference between captar and comprender?

Captar means to capture, to grasp, while comprender means to understand something. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use captar when you mean to capture, to grasp, as in Capto la idea a la primera, and use comprender for to understand something. When in doubt, check the object of the sentence — it usually shows which verb fits.

How do I say “I capture” in the past?

It depends on the kind of past. For one finished action, use the preterite: yo capté la señal de la radio. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: yo captaba la atención del público. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: yo he captado la señal de la radio.

How do I practise captar?

Start with the present tense table, then drill the preterite and the imperfect, since those two past tenses cause the most mistakes. Try the captar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure.

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